Pokémon Go gets a special New Pokémon Snap event featuring a shiny Smeargle

By Giovanni Colantonio Published April 15, 2021

Pokémon Go is getting a special event to celebrate the release of New Pokémon Snap. Players will be able to grab some photography-themed goodies and have a chance to catch a shiny Smeargle.

New Pokémon Snap, a sequel to a 1999 Nintendo 64 photography game, comes to Nintendo Switch at the end of the month. Pokémon Go‘s special event lines up with the game’s release window. It’ll begin one day before the Switch game launches on Thursday, April 29, and end on Sunday, May 2.

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The big prize during the event is a shiny version of Smeargle, the paint-brush-tailed Pokémon, which usually appears in the game when players take a photo with the app. The Pokémon’s encounter rate will increase during the event, and players will have higher odds of finding a shiny version. This is the first time a shiny version of Smeargle has appeared in the game.

The event will feature increased appearances of other Pokémon found in the new Lental region featured in New Pokémon Snap. Dodrio, Venusaur, and Skarmory are among some of the creatures that will appear during the weekend. Pokémon from the Lental region will appear in raids more often as well.

The update will also bring event-exclusive research tasks Some of those “photography-themed” tasks will revolve around taking snapshots. Players will be able to grab new camera avatar in the style shop for free, as well as a sticker.

The event begins at 10 a.m. on April 29 and New Pokémon Snap launches on Nintendo Switch the next day, April 30.

Giovanni Colantonio

Former Senior Gaming Editor

As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…

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Pokémon Sleep is here and it features some surprising microtransactions

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Pokémon Sleep is now available in the United States for both iOS and Android devices. While the sleep tracking app is free to download, it has some surprising monetization built into it thanks to a paid monthly plan and microtransactions.

First revealed in 2019, Pokémon Sleep is a cross between a sleep-tracking app and an idle game. When users leave their phone on their bed at night, it'll record their sleep quality and habits by sensing vibrations and using their phone's microphone. When they wake up, they'll help a professor "research" Pokémon that have gathered around a sleeping Snorlax overnight. It's a cute way to gamify a sleep-tracking app, adding a "catch 'em all" element to the mix.

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It's already a major task to catch all the Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, or any of the games for that matter, but GameFreak introduced another factor completionists will need to account for starting in Generation 2, that being shiny Pokémon. These are very rare forms of Pokémon that feature alternate colors of their regular, non-shiny forms. They never have any numerical or mechanical differences from their regular versions and are only differentiated based on their color and rarity.

Shiny hunting has been around since shiny Pokémon were introduced, but the methods and odds of encountering them always change from game to game. They are still present in Scarlet and Violet, but the open-world format has made hunting them slightly different. If you want to know how to get the best odds of finding these rare Pokémon, here's everything you need to know about shiny hunting.
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Niantic launched NBA All-World, its basketball-themed, location-based mobile game, on iOS and Android today. Ahead of this release, Digital Trends attended a presentation to learn more about how the sports AR title works.
If you've played any of Niantic's games before, many elements of NBA All-World will feel quite familiar. The mobile game tracks players' location and encourages them to explore. While doing so, players will find Drop Zones that grant them new gear. Niantic says Drop Zones will often be placed near real-world counterparts, so players can find money near a bank or shoes near a shoe store.
There will also be Player Encounters, where they can face off against current NBA athletes. Niantic tells Digital Trends that classic athletes aren't currently in the game, but feels that idea "is a good one."

In Player Encounters, users face off against athletes in one of four minigames: 3-Point Shootout, Beat the Clock, Around the World, and First-to-Five. While they feature some impressive and realistic animation for a mobile game, Niantic says these minigames only use simple swipe controls because the studio wanted to make something that is easy to play while someone is walking around their neighborhood. If a user wins a Player Encounter, they can recruit that athlete to their team, customize them with items found at Drop Zones, and upgrade them by playing with them. Players can also challenge players they already recruited again to earn more currency.
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Despite the undeniable success of Pokémon Go, Niantic has never been able to completely replicate its success with games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite or Pikmin Bloom. However, the studio seems confident that basketball has the global mass appeal to make NBA All-World another massive hit for the company. The early footage we saw of the game does leave us optimistic for NBA All-World's prospects, but we'll ultimately have to wait and see if the game will make it past its rookie season.
NBA All-World is available now for iOS and Android.